the WHY
We filmed the week in Dharamsala with a five-camera crew knowing it would be a historic meeting and a master class in being human. Little did we know it would be so fun and funny and mean so much to the two global icons. Think of the ultimate buddy film with the wisest people on the planet who also happen to be a comedy duo.
2021 | 90 MIN
INTERVIEWER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Deeply moving and laugh-out-loud funny, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu share science-backed wisdom of how to live with joy in troubled times on this globally popular Netflix film.
Academy Award®-winning director Louie Psihoyos teams up with co-director Peggy Callahan on MISSION: JOY – FINDING HAPPINESS IN TROUBLED TIMES, a documentary with unprecedented access to the unlikely friendship of two international icons who transcend religion: His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Archbishop Tutu. In their final joint mission, these self-described mischievous brothers give a master class in how to create joy in a world that is filled with suffering. They offer neuroscience-backed wisdom to help each of us live with more joy, regardless of our circumstances.
Inspired by New York Times bestseller The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, the film showcases the exchange between these two Nobel Peace Prize winners that led to that book. Consisting largely of never-before-seen footage shot over 5 days at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, the film invites viewers to join these luminaries behind the scenes as they recount stories from their lives, each having lived through periods of incredible difficulty and strife. With genuine affection, mutual respect and a healthy dose of teasing, these unlikely friends impart lessons gleaned from lived experience, ancient traditions, and the latest cutting-edge science regarding how to live with joy in the face of all of life’s challenges. MISSION: JOY is an antidote for the times.
Watch the film on Netflix. Watch the film around the world not on Netflix.
DIRECTOR LOUIE PSIHOYOS | CO-DIRECTOR PEGGY CALLAHAN | PRODUCERS PEGGY CALLAHAN, MARK MONROE